Putney: Thames Crossing, Boat Race Start and the 1647 Debates

Putney is a riverside town in south-west London, and one of the five town centres in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It grew up where people crossed the Thames, first by ferry and then by bridge. The Boat Race starts from a stone in its towpath. Boathouses, the oldest from the 1860s and 1870s, line its Embankment. And its riverside church hosted the Putney Debates of 1647.

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About Putney

A town built on a river crossing

Putney began as a ferry point. In 1729 a bridge replaced the ferry. It was a wooden bridge across to Fulham, and at the time the only bridge over the Thames between London Bridge and Kingston. Crossing it cost a toll until 1880. The crossing was also part of an old coaching route the Royal Family used on trips to the west of England. Putney is now one of the five town centres of the London Borough of Wandsworth, in south-west London.

Today's bridge is a Grade II listed, five-span granite bridge. Sir Joseph Bazalgette designed it in 1884, and it opened in 1886. Look in front of St Mary's Church and you can still see the stone footings of the old timber bridge.

The town grew fast after the railway to Richmond opened in 1846. Today three stations and a pier bring you in:

Putney station: frequent trains from London Waterloo. The church and the river are a 5-minute walk north down Putney High Street.
Putney Bridge station: District line (Wimbledon branch), north of the river. You walk south over the bridge to reach the church and the Embankment.
East Putney station: also on the District line. The church is a 15-minute walk west along Upper Richmond Road, then north down Putney High Street.
Putney Pier: the River Bus's western terminus, next to the Embankment just upriver from Putney Bridge. It has a ticket machine and Oyster readers but no staffed ticket office, and the gate stays locked until a boat arrives. It's step-free from street level by a ramp. Mobility scooter users must join the operator's recognition scheme before boarding.

The church is in a controlled parking zone and recommends coming by public transport. Several bus routes stop outside the church.

St Mary's Church and the Putney Debates

St Mary's sits next to the river at the southern end of Putney Bridge. Its tower dates from about 1450. The rest was rebuilt in 1836 by Edward Lapidge, and the church is listed Grade II*. A chapel built by Nicholas West, Bishop of Ely under Henry VIII, was moved during the rebuild and survived a fire in 1973.

In October and November 1647, the church held the Putney Debates. Army generals sat with ordinary soldiers to argue over who should hold power. Should it stay with property owners, or be a right you're born with? The Levellers put forward a plan, the Agreement of the People, in which every free man who accepted it could vote. Colonel Thomas Rainsborough summed up their case: "the poorest he that is in England hath a life to live, as the greatest he".

A permanent exhibition about the debates opened in the church in October 2007, 360 years on. It shows extracts from William Clarke's diary and a video of historians and politicians on why the debates matter. Its organisers advise checking with the church in advance. The church website has a contact form you can use to check the exhibition is on show and open.

The Embankment and the Boat Race

West of the bridge, the Embankment became a centre for rowing from about the 1830s. Its present layout is the work of J. C. Radford, the parish surveyor, who built it in 1887-8 around the needs of the rowing clubs. He laid out the slipway, extended the towpath and bridged Beverley Brook. Some of his Grade II cast-iron bollards still stand on the Embankment and at Spring Passage.

The oldest boathouses date from the 1860s and 1870s. London Rowing Club came first, in 1856, and built its present boathouse in 1871. Thames Rowing Club followed in 1879 and Vesta in 1890. The council says this mix of river, boathouses and 1890s landscaping makes the area unique within London.

The Boat Race between Oxford and Cambridge is held each year, and it starts in Putney. The start line is the University Stone, marked "UBR", set into the towpath a few metres west of Putney Bridge. The course runs 4 miles 374 yards (6.8 km) upstream to Mortlake, and it was first used for the Men's race in 1845.

Crews start on the incoming tide, and the Women's race goes an hour before the Men's. The Putney bank is called the Surrey station, and the Fulham bank the Middlesex station. The race regularly draws over 200,000 spectators along the river. The organisers say Putney is the place to watch the coin toss and cheer the crews out. Because the start is set by the tide, look up each year's date and time on the official Boat Race website, theboatrace.org.

Shopping on Putney High Street

Putney Exchange is a shopping centre on Putney High Street, in the heart of the town. Built in 1990, it mixes well-known high-street brands with independent shops. It's on the same walk north from Putney station that leads to the church and the river, 2 minutes down the High Street on the left.

Green spaces: river, common or heath

	Leader's Gardens	Putney Lower Common	Putney Heath
Setting	Riverside park on the Embankment	Open common half a mile west of the town centre	Former common land on high ground
Best for	Café, tennis, play areas, river views	Open space with the Thames close by to the north	Open ground and local history
Managed or protected by	Wandsworth Council	The 1871 Commons Act	Wimbledon and Putney Commons Conservators

Leader's Gardens is a riverside park on the busy Putney Embankment, used by walkers, cyclists and rowers. The developer John Temple Leader laid it out in 1903. It has a café, tennis courts and play areas, and Beverley Brook joins the Thames nearby, beside a quiet lawn. The main gate is on Putney Embankment, with other gates on Ashlone Road and Festing Road. You can book a tennis court online.

Putney Lower Common is a large open space about half a mile west of the town centre, with the Thames close by to the north. The Wimbledon and Putney Commons Act of 1871 set up the Conservators and stopped more building on its edges.

Putney Heath is former common land on the high ground where Wimbledon, Wandsworth, Putney and Roehampton meet. It's part of Wimbledon and Putney Commons, managed by the Conservators. Three moments from its history:

The Admiralty telegraph station here was one of ten in a line from Whitehall that sent signals to and from the Portsmouth dockyards. The line could pass a message between Whitehall and Portsmouth in fifteen minutes. A new semaphore station opened in 1822.
Lord Castlereagh and George Canning, both government ministers, fought a duel near the station in September 1809.
Prime Minister William Pitt lived at Bowling Green House on the Heath and died there in 1806. The house was pulled down in the 1930s. Bowling Green Close now stands on the site, with houses in the International Modernist style that the council calls unique in the borough.

Card photo: Putney Bridge by Simon Burchell, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (resized).

Region	Greater London
Timezone	Europe/London

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Putney famous for?

Putney is famous as the start of the Boat Race between Oxford and Cambridge. It's also where the Putney Debates took place in 1647, at St Mary's Church by Putney Bridge. Its Embankment is lined with rowing club boathouses, the oldest from the 1860s and 1870s.

Is Putney in south or west London?

Putney is in south-west London. It's one of the town centres in the London Borough of Wandsworth, on the south side of the Thames, with Fulham across Putney Bridge.

Where does the Boat Race start in Putney?

The Boat Race starts at the University Stone, marked UBR, in the towpath on Putney Embankment a few metres west of Putney Bridge. The course runs 4 miles 374 yards upstream to Mortlake. Start times are set by the tide, so check the official Boat Race site for each year's date.

Can you visit the church where the Putney Debates were held?

Yes. St Mary's Church is next to the river at the southern end of Putney Bridge. A permanent exhibition about the 1647 Putney Debates opened there in 2007. Contact the church before you go to check the exhibition is on show and open.

What is the difference between Putney Heath and Putney Lower Common?

Putney Heath is former common land on high ground, while Putney Lower Common is open space near the river. The Heath is where Putney meets Wimbledon, Wandsworth and Roehampton, and it's part of Wimbledon and Putney Commons. The Lower Common is about half a mile west of the town centre, with the Thames close by to the north. An 1871 Act set up the Conservators who look after the Heath. It also stopped more building on the edges of the Lower Common.

How do you get to Putney?

Putney station has trains from London Waterloo, and the church and river are a 5-minute walk north down the High Street. Putney Bridge and East Putney stations are on the District line. From Putney Bridge station you walk south over the bridge into Putney. The River Bus also stops at Putney Pier, by the bridge.